Trump will pull the US out of the World Health Organization again. Here’s what it means

On his first day back in the White House, US President Donald Trump began the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Trump had initiated the US pullout during his first term, but the decision was reversed by then-President Joe Biden.

Scientists fear the move could roll back decades-long gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, and have cautioned that withdrawing from the global health organisation could weaken the world’s defences against dangerous new outbreaks capable of triggering pandemics.

Here’s a look at what Trump’s decision means.

In the first Oval Office appearance of his second term, Trump signed an executive order detailing how the withdrawal process might begin.

His move calls for pausing the future transfer of US government funds to the organisation, recalling and reassigning federal personnel and contractors working with the WHO, and calls on officials to “identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by” the organisation.

This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to sever ties with the WHO, the UN’s specialised health agency.

In July 2020, several months after WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic and as cases surged globally, Trump’s administration officially notified UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the US was planning to pull out of WHO, suspending funding to the agency.

Dr Tom Frieden, president and CEO of the advocacy group Resolve to Save Lives, said Trump’s move "makes Americans – and the world – less safe".

Yes, as long as he gets the approval of Congress and the US meets its financial obligations to WHO for the current fiscal year.

The US